Sexual Coercion in the Workplace

I wish Jenni Konner, the executive producer of “Girls,” were right when she says Harvey Weinstein’s firing is a tipping point. Alas, we have a president who brags about sexually abusing woman, lots of gold in the parachutes handed to Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly after they were ousted, “gag orders” as standard operating procedure, and countless women in every industry who are experiencing offensive and often criminal sexual misconduct right now.

A quarter century after Anita Hill was vilified for speaking out about Clarence Thomas, we have a lot of fighting left to do. Fortunately, activists across the country, many of them women of color, are leading that fight.

ELLEN BRAVO, MILWAUKEE

The writer is the co-author of “The 9 to 5 Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment” and author of “Again and Again,” a novel about date rape.

To the Editor:

Harvey Weinstein’s public apology was both condescending and tiresomely clichéd. Mr. Weinstein has undoubtedly downplayed the sexual harassment of countless women in Hollywood over dozens of years. Unfortunately, he is not alone.

I spent nine years in Hollywood as an actress. With my freckles and my “girl next door” visage, I was always cast as the little sister or the brainy girlfriend. I naïvely believed that this would safeguard me from the proverbial “casting couch” I had heard so much about. It did not. Over those nine years, I had multiple interactions with well-known directors and producers that were thoroughly offensive, demeaning and inappropriate.

I was fortunate enough to extricate myself from these interactions. However, I never felt as if I could “blow the whistle” on these men. They were well respected, powerful and influential. I simply walked away, without giving them what they wanted and without the part.

It is disheartening to see that some 20 years later this behavior is just starting to come to light. We have investigated churches and boardrooms for this kind of behavior, and yet we are just barely starting to pull back the curtain of sexual harassment and coercion in Hollywood. It is time. It is beyond time.

I was shocked by a statement by Lisa Bloom, a lawyer who had advised Harvey Weinstein over the last year on gender and power dynamics, calling him “an old dinosaur learning new ways.” She said she had “explained to him that due to the power difference between a major studio head like him and most others in the industry, whatever his motives, some of his words and behaviors can be perceived as inappropriate, even intimidating.”

As a 65-year-old father of a 27-year-old professional daughter, I find the “dinosaur” excuse insulting. Some of us “dinosaurs” don’t need to be taught how to respect the women in our lives, personally or professionally. Respect is simply the understanding that, regardless of your position in society, your life and well-being are no more important than anyone else’s.

TONY PHILLIPPS LYNDEN, WASH.

To the Editor:

Sexual harassment by economic power is not only toward women. Men in fear of losing their livelihood are equally subject to sexual advances by powerful predators of any sexual orientation. Men in the entertainment and other industries will privately testify to this with the same shame and terror experienced by women — even more so because of homophobic humiliation, and so it is doubtful any man will come forward as women are now doing.

As a female engineer in tech, where on a good day there are six men for every woman, I don’t have the option of never taking a meeting alone with a guy. And I’m disturbed that others (regardless of gender) would think differently.

We sometimes talk about the world as if it’s “men versus women,” as if men as a group are uncontrollably drawn to assault and harass women, and women are uncontrollably drawn to make false accusations against innocent men. But that’s a lie. For every colleague who does terrible things, there are 100 who will have your back and walk over burning coals to do right by you.

Safety does not come from avoiding people of other genders. It comes when all the good people stand together against the tiny number who would do us harm. The world isn’t “men versus women”; it’s the world versus people who do evil things. Pick your side appropriately.

SARAH EDWARDSCAMBRIDGE, MASS.

To the Editor:

It’s interesting how we are shocked, shocked over Harvey Weinstein’s treatment of women in Hollywood. When I was an aspiring actress in the late 1950s and early ’60s, it was considered fact that actresses could and did work their way up in the movie industry on their backs or knees. Marilyn Monroe was cited as a prime example. It’s sad to remember how we held the women responsible for this behavior.

At least now we are just beginning to blame the powerful man, not the aspiring actress.

NANCY LEROY, WASHINGTON

To the Editor:

Everyone on the left is now coming out to condemn Harvey Weinstein, but only after his decades of sexual harassment have been made public. It was Hollywood’s dirty secret for decades, akin to the Catholic Church’s covering up its pedophile priests.

What galls me is that many of the actresses whom Mr. Weinstein harassed have for the past two years been trashing President Trump for his comments over the years. At his worst, Mr. Trump is a choir boy compared with Mr. Weinstein. What hypocrites they are.

Now Hillary Clinton is attacking Mr. Weinstein, whose behavior toward women was similar to Bill Clinton’s. Up until this month the Clintons were good friends of Mr. Weinstein.

The left for some reason will tolerate almost anything a “politically correct” person does or says.

A drastic change in how girls and women are portrayed is needed. If writers, producers, directors and actresses produce only work in which women spend the vast majority of their time focused on attracting men, what chance do girls have of growing up to be treated like, or think of themselves as, anything other than sex objects?

American media shows women in makeup and high heels, talking incessantly about sex, with their professional work as mere background to their obsessing over what to wear on a date. Even women who are actually working in media — reporters, weather forecasters, talk show hosts, etc. — must conform to the tyranny of sexualized, objectifying standards of beauty. Advertising is the same.

If you start portraying us as natural-looking, thoughtful, capable, full human beings, maybe we’ll be treated that way out in the real world, too. In the British media, women who are without makeup or plastic surgery are given roles in television and films beyond age 80, so we know it’s possible for the industry to succeed financially without objectifying women.

I understand the upwelling of negative reaction to Harvey Weinstein’s behavior. I feel the same way, absolutely disgusted. But I also believe that those famous actresses who are now stepping forward to condemn him should shoulder some of the blame. If they did not step forward and bring it to light when it happened, they are culpable in allowing it to happen to the next person, and should be ashamed of themselves.

I suspect they were not willing to risk their careers, and that cowardice did great harm to those who followed.

DONALD HAUSAMCOLORADO SPRINGS

To the Editor:

The range of sexually inappropriate behaviors in the workplace run the gamut. They’re all bad and wrong, but a subtle sexual comment is not the same as a sexual assault, and zero-tolerance policies are a good start but may actually dissuade women from filing complaints about minor infractions.

Women need a place to go in their own industry where it’s safe to speak out, to submit complaints, to give and get recommendations and advice, to share stories, and to help protect and inform younger women entering these industries. Associations should be formed, with female and male industry leaders collaborating, volunteering time, speaking and offering free services to those workers, male or female, who have been targeted for verbal or sexual abuse. Leaders, where are you?

Gretchen Carlson writes, “I’m hopeful that the Weinstein story will represent the start of a sea change in our society’s treatment of sexually harassed workers.”

I agree with Ms. Carlson: The Weinstein story is a good starting point. But I cannot imagine how any of this will create real change until President Trump is held accountable to the women who have alleged that he sexually harassed them. Until he is brought into court by his accusers, there will be no real change in the culture that approves (and encourages) workplace assaults.